Thursday, January 12, 2012

I often find myself struggling to figure out what to do next. I can't even count how many ways I can apply that statement to my life. "I often find myself struggling to figure out what ________ to do next." - chore, project, complete life overhaul. When I think about my current state of mind, the best way to describe it is 'out of focus'. I feel guilt almost everyday because I feel like I simply can't focus on my children the way I feel I should each day because I have pounds of laundry to do and I could go on with my list of chores. But as soon as I start that laundry, I think, I would love to carpet my basement - how can I acheive that. But would I rather carpet the basement or paint/decorate our master bedroom? And so my thoughts go round and round and I feel mentally and emotionally exhausted and my pile of laundry is still sitting there.

The new year is a time for resolve, right? I have so many goals for my life that I can't get them straight but I have decided that the first thing I MUST do is decide to live purposefully. What does that mean? For me, it means taking the time to plan so that when I am not planning, I am living and focused on my family, my chores, my projects, my complete life overhaul ;)

So where do I start? I have spent the last few weeks trying to find whatit is that causes the most "noise" in my life. And the answer is finances. It's time - it is time to focus on creating a financial plan for the short-term, for the long-term, and to begin living it today. The amount of stress our finances puts on my marital relationship is unnessecary. So it is time to get rid of the noise and focus.

There are so many financial plans available. Internet plans, books to read, hundreds of philosophies I could follow. More noise. So I have made a plan to find focus in my financial life. Beginning the day after Christmas, I began using Mint.com to track all of my spending. I asked Sean to use it with me and thankfully he agreed - he is an amazing partner. I have spent the time since then researching plans and methods to find focus in our financial life. I decided today on Dave Ramsey's system. I found a good deal on a bundle of materials and I feel like his overall perspective works for me and will work for our family. The materials should be here in the next two weeks and I look forward to blogging about my experience with the program once we receive it.